12 Types of Biomass Fibers Every Textile Professional Should Know

Farewell to Petroleum-Based Fibers, Embrace Biomass Fibers 12 Eco-Friendly Fibers |Raw Materials, Properties, Applications & Biodegradable Closed-Loop System

1、PLA Filament: Corn-Made Textiles Replace Petroleum Fibers

Category	Details
Main Raw Materials	Primarily made from plant starches such as corn, processed through biological fermentation and polymerization.
Key Properties & Advantages	It offers natural antibacterial and anti-mite properties, with better moisture conductivity and air permeability than polyester. In addition, the filament is self-extinguishing once removed from flame and is not easy to ignite. It also provides a skin-friendly, smooth hand feel without static electricity concerns.
Eco-friendly Features	Made from 100% bio-based materials, it can fully degrade under industrial composting conditions. It produces zero microplastics, helps reduce carbon emissions from the source, and supports a closed biological cycle.
Main Application Fields	Suitable for underwear, sportswear, T-shirts, fashion coats, home textile fabrics, and infant clothing.

2、From Trees to Elegant Silk: Bosang Bio-Based Fibers

Category	Details
Main Raw Materials	Made from Nordic red conifer wood pulp, offering a renewable and stable raw material source.
Key Properties & Advantages	Through modified biomimetic technology, the fiber simulates the natural structure and texture of mulberry silk. Its filament cross-section has an irregular polygonal shape, which helps create a soft luster and a full, dry, and fluffy hand feel. In addition, it offers high strength, high wet modulus, and natural antibacterial performance. Compared with real silk, the price is only about one-fifth, and it can be used for both pure spinning and blended spinning.
Eco-friendly Features	The fiber uses renewable wood pulp and supports closed-loop solvent recovery. Moreover, it is fully biodegradable, helping build a more sustainable and environmentally friendly textile cycle.
Main Application Fields	Suitable for woven chiffon, knitted velvet-like fabrics, printed fabrics, home textiles, and high-end fashion garments.

3、Lyocell Filament: Inherit Silk Legacy, Open a New Chapter for Green Filaments

Category	Details
Main Raw Materials	Made from natural wood pulp, offering a renewable and plant-based raw material source.
Key Properties & Advantages	It delivers a silk-like luster and a smooth, elegant touch. In addition, it has high wet strength and excellent dimensional stability, so the fabric is less likely to shrink. Compared with traditional viscose filament, it performs much better in strength and stability. It also absorbs moisture, allows good air permeability, and creates a breathable, flowing yet crisp fabric style.
Eco-friendly Features	It supports closed-loop clean production and can fully biodegrade after disposal. Therefore, it is a true green fiber for sustainable textile development.
Main Application Fields	Suitable for high-end fashion, silk scarves, evening dresses, luxury bedding sets, and premium home textiles.

4、Blending Natural Comfort with Synthetic Toughness, Setting a New Benchmark for Green Fibers — Lyocell

Category	Details
Main Raw Materials	Made from natural wood pulp, such as eucalyptus and pine, sourced from sustainable forests.
Key Properties & Advantages	It combines the comfort of cotton, the luster of silk, and the strength of polyester. Moreover, its moisture absorption speed is nearly twice that of cotton. With excellent dry and wet strength, good dimensional stability after washing, and a graceful drape, it works well for both apparel and home textile fabrics.
Eco-friendly Features	The fiber uses the non-toxic organic solvent NMMO for dissolution. In addition, its closed-loop process recovers more than 99.7% of the solvent. It is also 100% biodegradable and is often known as a “green fiber of the 21st century.”
Main Application Fields	Suitable for high-end fashion, denim, shirts, dresses, four-piece bedding sets, facial mask base fabrics, and nonwoven fabrics.

5、Breaking Traditional Craft Boundaries: Living Silk Enters the Mass Textile Era — Doris® Active Gum-Rich Silk Fiber

Category	Details
Main Raw Materials	Made from silkworm cocoons, with natural sericin and fibroin proteins fully retained.
Key Properties & Advantages	It preserves the activity of sericin, bringing natural antibacterial, low-allergy, and odor-control benefits. In addition, it offers high moisture absorption and release, as well as UV resistance. More importantly, it solves the common problems of traditional silk, such as poor washability and easy snagging, while adding better wash resistance and wrinkle resistance.
Eco-friendly Features	It uses an original MMT molecular modification technology, with no reeling, no refining, and no pollution in the production process. As a result, it offers a natural and sustainable green solution that supports carbon neutrality goals.
Main Application Fields	Suitable for premium underwear, home textile bedding, infant products, sports and leisure apparel, and large-scale textile applications as a silk alternative.

6、The Breathable Fifth Natural Fiber — Bamboo Fiber Usher in a New Era of Green Textiles

Category	Details
Main Raw Materials	Made from natural bamboo, such as moso bamboo and other suitable bamboo varieties.
Key Properties & Advantages	Thanks to its natural antibacterial component “bamboo quinone” and porous cross-section structure, the fiber can achieve an antibacterial rate of over 99%. Moreover, its moisture absorption is about 1.5 times that of cotton, while its air permeability can reach 3.5 times that of cotton. It also feels smooth, cool, skin-friendly, and gentle on sensitive skin. In addition, it can be used for pure spinning or blended with cotton, linen, polyester, and other fibers.
Eco-friendly Features	It is often regarded as the fifth major natural fiber after cotton, linen, wool, and silk. Besides, it can fully degrade through natural composting. Bamboo grows quickly and offers strong carbon sequestration, so the fiber supports a green cycle from the land and back to the land.
Main Application Fields	Suitable for T-shirts, underwear, sports socks, bedding, infant apparel, denim, and homewear.

7、A Natural Hollow Marvel Combining Buoyancy & Warmth — Kapok Fiber

Category	Details
Main Raw Materials	Made from fibers inside kapok fruits, sourced from natural wild kapok.
Key Properties & Advantages	Kapok is one of the lightest natural fibers, with a density of only 0.29 g/cm³ and a hollow rate of up to 86%. As a result, it offers a warmth retention rate of over 40%. Moreover, its natural lignin and flavonoids give it antibacterial, anti-mite, and mildew-resistant properties. It also performs well in moisture absorption and sweat wicking, and its blend ratio can reach up to 50%.
Eco-friendly Features	Kapok comes from a high-carbon-sequestration tree species, with carbon storage about 1.5 times that of mangroves. In addition, the fiber is naturally biodegradable and supports carbon reduction from the source.
Main Application Fields	Suitable for premium underwear, warm home textiles, pillow and quilt filling, functional blended fabrics, and outdoor apparel. Jiangsu Donghua Textile has already achieved large-scale application with an annual output of over 1,000 tons and has become a core supplier of MUJI.

8、Sensitive to Temperature, Wear Your Personal Microclimate — Bio-Based Temperature-Regulating Fiber

Category	Details
Main Raw Materials	Made from 100% natural palm oil extracts in the form of phase-change microcapsules, combined with a polymer matrix.
Key Properties & Advantages	It provides two-way temperature regulation within 28-32°C and helps create a smart microclimate next to the skin. In addition, it offers Grade 7A antibacterial performance and improves the cooling feel by 50%. The fabric feels soft and smooth, while helping keep the wearer warm in winter and cool in summer.
Eco-friendly Features	With bio-based palm oil as the source material, it supports green and low-carbon textile development. Moreover, its natural temperature-control function can help reduce energy use in daily wear and bedding applications.
Main Application Fields	Suitable for underwear, homewear, T-shirts, sportswear, functional bedding, and next-to-skin layers. At present, a bio-based temperature-control technology R&D center has been jointly established with Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, and large-scale production of temperature-control nylon has already been achieved.

9、Nano Armor for Cotton | Modified Antibacterial Cotton and Cotton Yarn

Category	Details
Main Raw Materials	Made from cotton fiber combined with nano-scale functional microfibers through cross-scale embedded spinning, with only a very low additive amount.
Key Properties & Advantages	It delivers strong antibacterial performance, with an antibacterial rate of at least 99% against Staphylococcus aureus, at least 97% against Escherichia coli, and at least 93% against Candida albicans. Moreover, the effect can last through 50 washes. At the same time, it keeps the soft, breathable, and comfortable touch of pure cotton. Additional functions such as anti-mite, deodorizing, and heat-generating performance can also be developed.
Eco-friendly Features	With natural cotton as the base material, the fabric remains biodegradable. In addition, it contains no heavy metals and has no chemical leaching, making it a safer and greener textile solution.
Main Application Fields	Suitable for homewear, underwear, baby and children’s clothing, home textiles, mother and baby products, and everyday apparel.

10、Soft as Cotton, Tough as Polyester — PLA Staple Fiber & Yarn Usher in a New Blending Era

Category	Details
Main Raw Materials	Made from polylactic acid, or PLA, which comes from corn or other plant-based lactic acid through polymerization.
Key Properties & Advantages	It feels as soft as cotton while offering strength similar to polyester. In addition, it provides quick moisture absorption and drying, along with long-lasting antibacterial performance. The yarn has good evenness and can be used for pure spinning or blended with cotton, viscose, and modal. It also works well with ring spinning and open-end spinning systems.
Eco-friendly Features	Under industrial composting conditions, PLA can fully biodegrade. Moreover, it produces no microplastics and supports a greener life cycle from raw material sourcing to end-of-life disposal.
Main Application Fields	Suitable for T-shirts, underwear, homewear, infant apparel, socks, home textile filling, and blended fabrics.

11、From Cosmetics to Textiles — Collagen Modified Regenerated Cellulose Fiber

Category	Details
Main Raw Materials	Made from collagen protein extracted from cowhide scraps, combined with regenerated cellulose.
Key Properties & Advantages	The regenerated collagen protein content reaches at least 30%, giving the fiber skin-care and skin-friendly benefits. In addition, it offers good moisture absorption, air permeability, and excellent biocompatibility. It also combines the softness of cotton with active skin-friendly performance, making it suitable for close-to-skin textiles.
Eco-friendly Features	It gives leather waste a higher-value second life and helps reduce pollution and landfill pressure. Therefore, it supports a more resource-efficient textile supply chain.
Main Application Fields	Suitable for facial mask base fabrics, premium underwear, shapewear, sportswear, and functional next-to-skin textiles.

12、Permanent Protection & Durable Functions — Quantum Functional Fiber

Category	Details
Main Raw Materials	Made from natural nano-mineral elements and high-molecular polymers, which are deeply fused under a molten state at over 1,000°C.
Key Properties & Advantages	It maintains an antibacterial rate of over 99% even after 100 washes. In addition, it combines multiple functions, including far-infrared performance, UV protection, anti-static effect, deodorizing ability, and a cooling touch. Since the functions last as long as the fiber itself, even a newly exposed surface after friction or wear can still retain functional performance.
Eco-friendly Features	The functional factors are embedded into the fiber matrix at the molecular level. Therefore, the fiber contains zero heavy metals, has no leaching, and needs no chemical additives. It offers physical-level health protection and has passed FDA safety certification.
Main Application Fields	Suitable for sportswear, esports uniforms, baseball jerseys, workwear, outdoor gear, and functional everyday apparel.